Legal experts say U.S. strikes against alleged members of Latin American drug cartels are pushing the bounds of international law.

The White House confirmed President Trump’s stance that Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro is “an illegitimate president, leading an illegitimate regime,” according to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Trump’s remarks come just one day after he publicly disclosed that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela,

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize last week, has called for greater US support to stop what she described as a “war” on her country by President Nicolás Maduro.

The Trump administration quietly authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, granting the agency lethal authority as part of an escalating campaign to oust President Nicolás Maduro, according to the New York Times, citing multiple U.S. officials familiar with the classified directive.